Monday, June 6, 2016

Mermaid Dress of Dreams: Collectif Dolores Doll Mermaid Print Dress

How beautiful is it when do of your favourite things collide, to make a new super duper amazing thing? This Spring that happened when Collectif released their Mermaid Print Dolores Doll Dress. I let out actual squeals of delight when I saw it for the first time. The colours were right up my alley, I’ve had a mermaid obsession since Ariel, and Dolores is my perfect dress.

The base colour of the dress is somewhere between azure and sky blue. Scattered across it are teal clad mermaids with magenta, blush pink and green hair, interspersed with coral, shells, starfish and bubbles. Just perfection! Collectif’s mermaid collection also includes the Lucy Mermaid Cardigan which I adore too! It’s a pale pink, which is actually a colour that works on a lot of complexions, with little pearl buttons, and a magenta haired mermaid embroidered above the right breast. If I really want to amp up the mermaid vibes I wear both together, but I love that this cardi can also add a little whimsy to an otherwise simple outfit.

The fit on the mermaid dress of dreams is the same as on other Dolores Doll dresses. It is cut generously in the bust (I know size 24 and 26 women who get into the 22), flairs out of over the tummy and hips, and I find it a little tight on the arms but not unbearably so. I wear a 22 in this style and could probably get away with a 20 if the arms were a little more generous. I have more detailed fit advice here.

My first outing in this little beauty was to Battersea Park. I had been for a lovely Sunday lunch with my housemates and we decided to stroll around our rather picturesque park. These pics were taken in a little English garden inside the park which is full of flowers. My housemate was taking pictures of me, when we spotted a very pregnant mum and her 2 year old daughter looking for a ball in the bushes. I spent the next 15 minutes digging around in the shrubbery in my poofy petticoat, trying to find the ball. Ah, the glamorous life of a fashion blogger!

Here I decided to double up the mermaid vibes, wearing the dress and cardi. I added my beautiful golden shell bag from Skinnydip London, a little white belt, and gave the whole outfit a bit more 50s pow by popping my wonderfully full Hell Bunny petticoat underneath. Such a cute outfit!

On Sunday I went to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Wembley. If you follow me on snapchat (my username is curvesncurlsuk if you want to) then you would have seen my millions of snaps, and palpable excitement at getting to once more see my favourite band! He played so many of my favourites including my top 3 songs of his: Born to Run, Tougher Than The Rest and Thunder Road, and I think I may have died a little of happiness. I wore my mermaid dress, but dressed it down a little more casually minus the petticoat and with some simple pumps, and it was a great gig outfit, and got more than a few passing compliments too! So despite having a raging hangover (bad Hayley!) I felt super pretty and had a wonderful time, dancing along throughout the three and a half hour set.

So yes, dream dress! Got your hands on one while you still can, and if you haven’t tried a Dolores Doll yet – what are you waiting for? How was your weekend? What have you been up to lately? Let me know…

I love a Dolores, I love you in a Dolores, and these colours look amazing on you! I am hoping they bring out some more mini versions as I missed out last time, if not, I will have to invest in some regular length and get them shortened! Need another Hayley hug soon lady xxx

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I'm Hayley, an award winning plus size blogger and a modern woman with a vintage heart. I'm a Londoner, a reader, a thinker and a dreamer. And most of the time I have more dresses than sense...
email: curvesncurlsuk@gmail.com